Man's Search For Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Rank: 257

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is among the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud.

The book begins with a lengthy, austere, and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years, and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live.

The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps.

Freud believed that sexual instincts and urges were the driving force of humanity's life; Frankl, by contrast, believes that man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose.

Frankl's logotherapy, therefore, is much more compatible with Western religions than Freudian psychotherapy. This is a fascinating, sophisticated, and very human book.

At times, Frankl's personal and professional discourses merge into a style of tremendous power. "Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is," Frankl writes. "After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips."

About the Author

Viktor E. Frankl is Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School and Distinguished Professor of Logotherapy at the U.S.

International University. He is the founder of what has come to be called the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy (after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology) -- the school of logotherapy.

Born in 1905, Dr. Frankl received the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Vienna. During World War II he spent three years at Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps.

Dr. Frankl first published in 1924 in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and has since published twenty-six books, which have been translated into nineteen languages, including Japanese and Chinese.

He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Duquesne and Southern Methodist Universities. Honorary Degrees have been conferred upon him by Loyola University in Chicago, Edgecliff College, Rockford College and Mount Mary College, as well as by universities in Brazil and Venezuela.

He has been a guest lecturer at universities throughout the world and has made fifty-one lecture tours throughout the United States alone.

He is President of the Austrian Medical Society of Psychotherapy.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Editorials(8) | Customer Reviews(53)

Editorials

Sample 3 of 8

Man's Search For Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl


	Gerald F. Kreyche, DePaul University
	"Frankl is a professional who possesses the rare ability to write in a layman’s language."--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

	New York Times
	"An enduring work of survival literature."--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

	Back cover
	Internationally renowned psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl endured years of unspeakable horror in Nazi death camps. During, and partly because of, his suffering, Dr. Frankl developed a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy... read full editorial

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Customer Reviews

Sample 3 of 53

Man's Search For Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl


	Looking deep inside and coming out on top.
	(Bay Point, California United States) April 13, 2003 - 5.0/5 stars
	In Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl writes: "[...] how does a human being go about finding meaning? [...] this situation has to be evaluated [...] in the light of a hierarchy of values. These values [...] are founded... read full review

	The kind of book you'll read more than once
	(Somewhere on Earth) November 24, 2004 - 5.0/5 stars
	This book has helped me through so many difficult times in my life. It is full of truths. It will cause you to question why you are here but will not give you any clues to the answer. The answers are within you

	Does life have a meaning?
	(Studio City, CA United States) September 25, 2002 - 5.0/5 stars
	Yes is the testament of Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and neurologist who was imprisoned at Auschwitz and endured years of brutality under the shadow of the gas chamber.So what is the meaning of life? You are, according... read full review

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